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Treasure & Bond

From ZZ Top gigs to rubbing elbows with menswear elite, there’s always something interesting happening at our philanthropic concept store in New York City, Treasure & Bond. If you’re in the NYC area between now and the end of March, pay them a visit at 350 West Broadway, and check out new spring plaids, sweaters, jackets and more by Vince. It’s for a good cause, after all.

You might remember Gabe Johnson—and his oddball Seattle event space, Horses Cut Shop—from our gift-guide collaboration with The Selby a few weeks ago. We heard a rumor that Johnson was taking his show on the road, and it turns out the Cut Shop landed at none other than our philanthropic retail boutique in NYC, Treasure & Bond. They’re having an open-house tonight, if you’re in the NYC area:

You can meet Mr. Johnson, sip a beer, and listen to live music. Find more details on the event here, and check out pictures of the havoc Horses Cut Shop has wreaked on the T&B ground floor here.

Perhaps even more admirable than Johnson’s knack for bringing people together for good, clean (-ish) fun, is his latest project: an homage to the dive bars, holes in the wall and small-town secrets that make America great. He’s done it all in the form of T-shirts emblazoned with the logos of legendary small businesses from across our great nation. Here’s a sampling of the shirt designs (see if you recognize a favorite haunt from your own hometown):

Pick one up tonight at Treasure & Bond. If you’re outside NYC, visit HorsesCutShop.com or call Treasure & Bond at (646) 669-9049 and they’ll get you taken care of.

Did we mention the GQ & Nordstrom Men’s Shop is located at our Treasure & Bond concept store in Soho? That means anything you buy there, in-person, benefits a rotating lineup of children’s charities in NYC. Currently, it’s the National Dance Institute and Girls Write Now. Do it for the kids!

We’re getting tons of great coverage from our friends at Treasure & Bond. Above is a time-lapse video that shows the mad race to prep the shop (over a span of barely more than 24 hours) last week, as well as some high-speed mingling at the opening-night event. Below are pics from the events that have been occurring at the GQ & Nordstrom Men’s Shop all week long—head over to Treasure & Bond’s official website to see tons more.

New York record store Other Music (15 E 4th St, NYC) is curating a selection of new releases this week at the GQ & Nordstrom Men’s Shop. Hear more of Other Music’s favorite records here and here.

WILD NOTHING, Nocturne (Captured Tracks)
“Wild Nothing’s 2010 debut, Gemini, was able to break loose from the boutique-label holding pen because the textures and scope of Jack Tatum’s songwriting had ‘major league’ written all over it, but that album was recorded quickly and cheaply on laptop computers. For his follow-up, Tatum trades up to a proper recording studio (for at least some of the tracking), and the result is a sound that is warm and dusky.

“Singles like ‘Shadow’ and ‘Nocturne’ are more sparsely orchestrated than anything on Gemini, and Tatum achieves lush textures without hundreds of synth or guitar overdubs. For guitar tones, he raids the road cases of ’80s arena rockers, with echo and chorus pedals cranked all the way up to replicate The Edge and pretty much every song ever recorded by The Church

“Each tune fades in and fades out, entering and exiting gracefully—the technique recalling the waxing and waning of the moon, an image that is evoked on the album’s cover. Wild Nothing’s songs champion romanticism in sound as well as aesthetic, and the marriage of the two on Nocturne is just about perfect. Tatum is the king of the paisley new-wave pack.”

—Michael Stasiak for Other Music

Buy Nocturne by Wild Nothing at OtherMusic.com—
and sign up for Other Music’s weekly email update, featuring the staff’s favorite
new releases and reissues, concert-ticket giveaways and more.

As the website for Dashwood Books, New York City’s only independent bookstore devoted entirely to photography, states: “The last ten years have seen a radical change in the publishing of books on photography…Many photographic curators now feature books as a significant part of exhibitions…and a strong collectors’ market has developed with prices for rare books tripling over the past decade.”

Dashwood Books was kind enough to curate a special collection for our GQ & Nordstrom Men’s Shop in NYC this week. Dashwood owner David Strettell shares six of his favorite titles below.

David Armstrong: Night and Day“Brings together a selection of iconic Kodachrome pictures from David Armstrong’s archive of the late ’70s and early ’80s in downtown New York. The images illuminate an intimate and carefree epoch of innocent-bohemian wilderness—a time just before the tumultuous ’80s.” [purchase]

Elaine Constantine, Corinne Day, Nick Knight, Marc Lebon, Craig McDean, Nigel Shafran, David Sims and Wolfgang Tillmans (amongst others): W’HAPPEN“Emerging British fashion photographers of the 1990s. As a reaction to the artificial, manufactured fashion images of the 1980s, the photographers and stylists featured in W’HAPPEN pushed into the 1990s with work that had a more direct grounding in reality.” [purchase]

Soviet Beauty Queens“Although beauty contests did not find favor in the Soviet Union until the late 1980s, by 1991, before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Soviet beauty queen had become symbol of perestroika itself. These photographs were taken 1988–1990 in Leningrad, at various beauty contests and at the Leningrad Beauty Institute, an academy preparing aspiring beauty queens for competition, and were acquired in St. Petersburg by The Archive of Modern Conflict.” [purchase]

Antonio Lopez: Fashion, Art, Sex & Disco“The most comprehensive book on the influential fashion illustrator who defined style during the disco era in NY and Paris in the 1970s and early ’80s. THE BEST fashion book of this year.” [more info]

Luigi Ghirri: Project Prints“The work of Luigi Ghirri, who died in 1992, has been rediscovered of late after being including in a major exhibition curated by Thomas Demand entitled La Carte D’Apres Nature—citing work with a surrealist take on nature. For my money, this is the best book of the year—beautifully designed and reproduced, making the most of the artist’s exquisite touch.” [more info]

The GQ & Nordstom Men’s Shop, our one-of-a-kind pop-up store in New York City, will still be open through this weekend only—so if you’re in the area, stop by to try on some Warby Parkers, hear some tunes from Other Music, and try on the impeccable wares.

We’ll highlight those in more detail soon. For now, we’re still basking in the glow of the opening-night bash (more pics from that below)—plus the insane events that have been occurring every night this week. (Anyone catch ZZ Top?)

New York record store Other Music (15 E 4th St, NYC) is curating a selection of new releases this week at the GQ & Nordstrom Men’s Shop. Check back soon for more notes on Other Music’s favorite records.

SHINTARO SAKAMOTO, How to Live with a Phantom (Other Music Recording Co)
“Following the demise of his powerhouse Tokyo psych-rock combo Yura Yura Teikoku (a band who had worked their way up from underground cult status to chart-topping festival headliners in Japan) comes the solo debut from Shintaro Sakamoto, released on Other Music’s new record imprint.

“On How to Live with a Phantom, Sakamoto channels an era and sound from 1970s Japan that’s often referred to as ‘city pop’—a sophisticated, cosmopolitan blend that fuses loping, stoned grooves straight out of a Meters or Little Feat album with a hint of country soul, glazed with a hearty helping of sun-soaked breeze that nods to everything from Van Dyke Parks and Buffalo Springfield to Ned Doheny and Steely Dan.

“As sunny and groovy as the album sounds in vibe, the song topics are a whole other ballgame, with Sakamoto’s dark-hued lyrics (full English translation included) dealing with death and despair, but more so in learning how to reconcile those emotions and struggles. It is, quite simply, a hugely impressive debut outing for Sakamoto as a solo artist, and one which proves his skills as a songwriter, arranger, and producer.”

—Mikey IQ Jones for Other Music

Buy How to Live with a Phantom by Shintaro Sakamoto at OtherMusic.com—
and sign up for Other Music’s weekly email update, featuring the staff’s favorite
new releases and reissues, concert-ticket giveaways and more.

New York record store Other Music (15 E 4th St, NYC) is curating a selection of new releases this week at the GQ & Nordstrom Men’s Shop. We’ll be posting notes on Other Music’s favorite records right here, all week long. Check back soon for more.

NUDE BEACH, II (Other Music Recording Co)“Brooklyn-by-way-of-Long-Island trio Nude Beach plays rootsy pub-rock with precision and ferocity. The records they’ve listened to and love bleed through the speakers, with chords and words that wink and nod toward the last 50 years of pop-minded rock music, and a deep affection for artists like Elvis Costello & the Attractions, Big Star, Bruce Springsteen, the Replacements, Tom Petty and the couldn’t-care-less-itude of the Exploding Hearts.

“What all of these artists have in common is that they make truly great rock-and-roll music, which is actually pretty tough to do. One difficulty comes from two opposing forces that the audience expects: You have to both mean it (sincerity), and you have to not give a damn (attitude). Most rock bands can only muster one or the other, so when both forces meet and explode, it makes for something unique and powerful. II is both heartfelt and full of piss and vinegar, and damn if it doesn’t feel like something really special. Obviously—I mean, we released it on the Other Music Recording Co label.”

—Michael Stasiak for Other Music

Buy II by Nude Beach at OtherMusic.com—and sign up for Other Music’s weekly email update, featuring the staff’s favorite new releases and reissues, concert-ticket giveaways and more.

Our NYC pop-up shop collaboration with GQ opened its doors last night. In town from Seattle, our men’s team was there nabbing comp drinks, celebrity spotting, and enjoying some immaculate menswear shopping. More coverage to come, but for now, here’s a first look at what went down opening night at the GQ & Nordstrom Men’s Shop.

Our once-in-a-lifetime pop-up shop collaboration with GQ opens its doors TONIGHT, for Fashion’s Night Out and the kick-off to New York Fashion Week.

Here are some photos our men’s team took during day-of preparations, counting down to tonight’s VIP opening-night event. Non-VIPs: Don’t worry, the NYC shop is open to the public starting at 9:30pm tonight, and remains open for the next 10 days. Non-New Yorkers, you’re in luck, too: Check back tomorrow to shop the GQ & Nordstrom Men’s Shop online.

The GQ & Nordstrom Men’s Shop will be located at our Treasure & Bond concept store, 350 West Broadway, between Grand and Broome Streets in NYC, September 6–16. The online version will go live here at Nordstrom.com on Friday, September 7.